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The World’s Only Flying Elephant

The story of Dumbo is one we are all familiar with. It is the story of a baby elephant with humongous ears. Dumbo redefines what it means to be an elephant. It is in his tale that marketers can find inspiration and guidance to be more entrepreneurial.

The World’s Only Flying Elephant

1.
Rachel Jacob
EEE 382
M. Schindehutte
February 26, 2009
The World’s Only Flying Elephant
The story of Dumbo is one we are all familiar with. It is the story of a baby
elephant with humongous ears. Dumbo redefines what it means to be an elephant. It is in
his tale that marketers can find inspiration and guidance to be more entrepreneurial.
Let’s start out with the infamous naysayers and traditionalists. The crows and
other elephants represent the old approach to marketing. Traditionally, marketing
revolves around the 4 P’s and the moving of the customer through the buying process.
The 4 P’s have changed to the 4 C’s (Schindehutte):
• From Product to Co-Created solutions/experiences
• From Promotion to communication within the communities
• From Price to customizable personal value
• From Place to choice and convenience
The crows and the other elephants are also representative of the customary role of
marketing in a company. Where marketing was simply cut and paste and did not really
impact the other company departments. Entrepreneurial marketing touches and influences
every single part of the company. Just as Dumbo redefined what ears could be used for,
so the entrepreneurial marketer defines the new role of marketing within a company.
The issue marketers and companies are now facing is how to get ahead and
differentiate one’s self from the competition. The goal of entrepreneurial marketing
“means thinking of your company, your technology, your product in a fresh way, a ways
that begins by defining what you can lead” (McKenna 5). Dumbo distinguished himself
from the other elephants using his ears as wings. He mixed things up. Like Dumbo, it is
imperative that the entrepreneurial marketers to not simply follow the rules, but instead
they must “push harder, change the rules as they go” (Godin).
Cirque du Soliel reinvented the traditional circus by invigorating all the senses
and taking its spectators to another world. Dumbo was able to reinvent what it meant to
be an elephant. He proved elephants don’t have to walk everywhere; they can fly.

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“Instead of trying to outspend the opposition in head on competition, the weaker
company out-thinks the competitor by crafting a value proposition that hits a sweet spot
for a specific target market in a focused, high impact marketing effort” (Schindehuette
10-11). Dumbo’s value proposition was that he could fly. Because of his unique value
proposition, Dumbo was able to create his own curve that the rest of the elephants
couldn’t touch. Okay, maybe the curve was more of an upward spiral.
“Use a strong sensual or emotional experience for your consumers, which will tap
powerfully into one or more of their sense, or will evoke a strong emotional response,
such as fear, thrill, excitement, ecstasy, surprise or any other powerful emotion”
(Herman). When it came time for Dumbo to perform he shocked the circus spectators and
turned their world upside down.
Dumbo was only able to accomplish his feat when his heart and mind were
working in symphony. His logical side was saying flying was impossible, but his right
brain -his heart, was telling him it was possible. In Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New
Mind, “the melding of information with the trends in today’s global economy, and the
resulting revolutionary idea that successful business leaders need to flex the right sides of
their brains and to manage with a whole-brained approach” (Sittner 9).
However, Dumbo might have never attempted his flying feat if it weren’t for his
friend Timothy the Mouse. Timothy was Dumbo’s co-creator and biggest supporter. It is
important to surround yourself with people who believe in you and help you gain new
perspective and insight. The Cadbury Chocolate Fashion show is testament that
collaboration and belief is one of the largest purveyors of success. “We continue to be
amazed by the incredible imagination invested in the development of the Cadbury
Couture Collection and the boundless appeal of chocolate and cutting-edge design”
(Canadian Business Online). Unilever (Dove) greatly benefited from their relationship
between the agency and client team. They decided to toss the approach of client/agent
separation. In creating a partnership, entrepreneurial marketers can create “strong sense
of dynamic energy from start to finish” (McGregor 3). As they say, two heads are better
than one.
Elephants in general are very social creatures with extremely tight knit
communities. The elephant herd is representative of the user communities, which are

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becoming increasingly popular due to technological advancements. An entrepreneurial
marketer is “active and engaged in their user community as innovative users play such a
vital part in R&D through comments, suggestions and feedback” (NESTA).
Clearly we can learn a lot from little Dumbo and elephant behavior in general.
You may be little but you can still pack a punch and compete with the biggest of
pachyderms.
Bibliography
Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soliel Online. 21 Feb 2009.
<http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/>.
Godin, Seth. “Pushing Through the dip.” Seth Godin Homepage. 20 Jan 2008.
<http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/>.
Herman, Dan. “Marketing Reinvented-Electrifying is the New Satisfying.” Article Base
Online. 10 Mar 2008. 17 Feb 2009.
<http://www.articlebase.com/marketing-articles/marketing-reinvented-
electricfying-is-the-new-satisfying-355705.html>.
McGreggor, Lyn and James Potocki. “Hide and Seek.” The World Association of
Research Professionals. 2005.
McKenna, Regis. “Marketing is Everything.” Harvard Business Review. Jan/Feb 1991:
2-10.
National Endowment for Science, Techology and the Arts. The New Inventors: How
users are changing the rules of innovation. July 2008. 25 Jan 2009.
<www.nesta.org.uk>.
Schundehutte, Minet. “The Rules Have Changed: The Emergence of Entrepreneurial
Marketing” Rethinking Entrepreneurial Marketing. 2008.
--. “Chapter 10: The Red Queen.” Rethinking Entrepreneurial Marketing. 2008.
Sittner, Sharon. “A Whole New Mind.” Business Book Review. 17 (2005): 1-10.
“The 2008 Cadbury Chocolate Corture Fashion Show: A World of Chocolate.” Canadian
Business Online. 6 Nov 2008. 20 Jan 2009.
<http://www.canadianbusiness.com>.